All BB Senshi must paint? I saw from dalong.net it is already colored runners ar.

yeap, dalong.net kits are normally completely unpainted IINM
BB Senshi have pretty good parts separation by themselves, even more so for the newer ones.. the stickers are also getting better and provide more colors to the kits.. not complaining for the price i pay

thats what i saw over there. but i dont get it when a lot of people here are talking about painting SD. so i can built directly OOB without problem right? just same as other MG

of course you won't get the little details MGs will get.. after all you're paying a fifth of the price (roughly)

yes, you can OOB, but of course it will look better with some paints.. however you can still display it just as well without paints, and they can look great on their own

Old SD kit color is plain.
Dalong is best to check as dalong do not paint them at all.
New SD kits need less paint unless you wan it to be more full detail.
The new legend is almost paint free unless you wan it to be more detail.. (small dots and pipes..)

Hi vkcy,
I saw from dalong.net, the new sazabi and banshee seems like good enough details for that size. Maybe will have some panel lining to put on. Of course I don't expect the details as much as MG, but I guess it is good to go with that kind of price.

I guess that really depends on the owner itself, some are ok with OOB build, some like to do some weathering effect to their kits, some like to do kit bashing, etc....
So, it really depends on yourself.
I, myself don't really like the sticker provided in SD.

And another thing is, SD has evolved a lot, new SD series has so much detail as compared to the old series as I believe is the market trending. SD, in old times targeted those primary school kids, so don't expect the small kids to appreciate on the details and painting skill.
But nowadays, looking at the pro's work, even SD model kits can be very nicely done.

Oh. My current gunpla models are all OOB build only. So, maybe SD OOB build is OK for me too. Haha.

Painting SD, what is the recommended paint? Need primer also right? Must the primer as Mr Hobby and paint also Mr Hobby, or we can use primer Mr Hobby and paint Tamiya?

What is the recommended method for painting SD? No airbrush here. Thanks.

If you plan to paint big surface or whole kit, then it would be better to prime first. If just small parts or minor detailings, it is unnecessary to prime, sanding is enough.
You could paint it with marker pen, hand paint using enamel bottle paint, spray can or airbrush painting. I just paint with marker pens for my first SD because my bottle paints are lacquer so not suitable for hand painting. You can check on my earlier post, SD DiaoChan to see the result.

You can either use the sangokuden marker pen set, other marker sets or you could just randomly buy the marker that you like. I would advice you to use Gundam Marker for small detailings, Tamiya marker for larger surface. Reason is Gundam Marker having smaller tip, if you paint large surface it will leave quite obvious brush stroke. Whereas Tamiya marker have bigger tip so it is more suitable for larger surace. Tamiya paint also have higher viscosity(resistance to flow) so if you paint on small details, the result will become very thick unless you extract the paint to paint tray, add some retarder or thinner then painted with brush.

Enamel paint is more suitable for larger surface hand painting compared to marker pens. But you need to have very fine brush(tamiya brush for example) to paint the small details on your SD kit. For larger surface you can use the fine brush that normally can be found in stationay store, but still hobby brush is better, depends on your budget. First of all, thin your paint with enamel thinner, after that paint your part layer by layer(thin layer) in one direction to reduce brush stroke and get a better finishing.

If you not confident with your hand painting skill and you not willing to give it a try or treat it as a practice, you could use spray can. I don't think there is much things to talk about spray can. Primer->Spray paint(also layer by layer)->Top coat. Some people like to do wet sanding after each layer of paint, well I don't do that because I'm lazy and not sure the purpose but I guess is to give better adhesion and smoother surface. I also don't use much spray can because I'm not familiar and skillful with it, and lazy to do masking.

Anyway, I strongly advice you to top coat your kit after you paint it to protect your paint. Flat, Semi-gloss, or Gloss is up to you, different people different preference. But I always use Gloss top coat for metalic paint so it will enhance the shiny surface whereas flat top coat will reduce the shiny surface of metalic paint, so no point to use flat top coat if you want shiny surface.

You could prime with Mr Hobby then paint with other brand paints, same for Tamiya primer. But don't use the primer from hardware shop, they are not suitable for ABS plastics. Wish you good luck for your first attempt on painting, and pardon me for long reply I just hope that I'm able to give some help and suggestion

This post has been edited by TheGreatBahamut: Jun 12 2013, 01:00 AM

Wow, this is quite a lengthy post but I like it. It is so informational, and clear my doubt. I just bought a RX-78-2 BB Senshi, a kit in 2009. The beam saber is in white, need to figure out what else I may need to hand paint/marker when I assemble it. SD looks cute!

I hate it when they give beam effect part in white color, some HG kit also like this. Mine would be 1/144 Exia Avalanche.

Marker is cheaper if you do minor painting or you seldom paint your kit, because you save the money from buying thinner.
In long term, bottle paint is the cheapest if you use the paint frequently. Basic colors you may need is blue, red, yellow, white, black, green and you can mix these colors into more different colors.

Continue reading...


This post has been edited by TheGreatBahamut: Jun 12 2013, 11:04 AM

If you want to prevent brush line when do hand painting, try get "mr.retarder mild" from Mr.Hobby. This product it use to mix with Mr. Hobby & Mr.colour to slow down the paint dry time to prevent brush line. Or you can try get those yellow label mr.hobby leveling thinner.

I also start hand paint my SD coz AirBrush compressor dead since last week.....

Hi TheGreatBahamut

If you want to use marker pen, you may need
1. paint remover
2. cotton bud or tissue to wipe off excessive paint
3. retarder(only needed if you extract paint from Tamiya Marker)
4. paint tray(only needed if you extract paint)
5. brushes(only needed if you extract paint)
6. tamiya masking tape

May I know the paint remover is for what? I think I will go for marker only since I don't think I paint often. Now all my MG Gundam are OOB build + flat top coat only.

As you can see from its name, the purpose of Mr.Paint Remover is to remove paint. You will need it to wipe off the excessive paint instead of using thinner that might make your plastic become brittle. It is a little bottle like Mr. Cement just the cap is red color, you can get it around RM 13 from hobby shop.

Here's the pic,

Thanks sir!

Bro, you are welcome.

Hi Sir TheGreatBahamut,

Items you need for enamel hand painting
1. thinner/zippo lighter fluid
2. paint tray
3. fine brush
4. dropper
5. empty bottle(for mixing paint, or you can just do it with paint tray)
6. cotton bud/tissue paper
7. tamiya masking tape

The enamel hand painting, can replace with acrylic paint? My friend has Tamiya acrylic paint, and I am borrowing from him. Process to to hand painting is still the same right?

BB Senshi will require painting to get the best out of them.
i'm not the best person to refer to but I am not those guys that follow to the mainstream steps... Since I basically only buy lacquer
paint so I used them. The equipment I used are pretty simple.

1. Lacquer paint of my choice
2. Lacquer thinner with added retarder
3. fine tip brush

As I do not use any tapping it takes alot of concentration and time to slowly paint those small parts.
Takes alot of patience and concentration and it strain ur eyes..

This is one of the kit I done today. Before painting


After painting.. I have not painted the crab lol.. since after painting the rick dom i got exhausted..





Some of the kit I painted accept the liu bei.. lol


I intend to paint all of my sensei kit.. still have alot and it takes time.. Sorry for the noob job.

Been a while here. Returned with treasures.